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Episode 1555 (5 January 1998)
Synopsis Cindy and Nick visit her barrister, who tells her that on ethical grounds, he cannot argue a not guilty plea since she has already told him she's guilty, and the best he can do is change the plea to guilty and hope for a shorter prison sentence. Nick is not pleased and tells him he does not want Cindy going to prison, and he sacks the barrister. They go home fighting as Cindy is worried about not having a barrister for the case and what she'll do now. Nick calls someone to get another barrister, and says it'll be fine. Cindy isn't convinced, and they are arguing as they get out of the car. Ian has Ros watching the household, and Ros reports that they don't seem too happy. Cindy and Nick go inside, and Nick is annoyed at the surveillance, and even more so when he gets a call from his bank. He says "That's it!" and goes outside to threaten Ros, saying that she shouldn't have called his bank to get details of his account, pretending to be from another branch, because that is fraud, so she had better get out of here right now. Nick says he's fed up with this, and phones Ian asking for a meeting. Ian is surprised, but agrees to a meeting tomorrow night. He informs Mary that her night off is cancelled. She's annoyed because she has already arranged to meet Huw for a drink. Ian discusses it with Kathy who thinks it's a bad idea and who knows what might happen - remember she tried to get him shot before. Ian also mentions his concerns that Mary is getting friendly with Cindy and this might lead to some deception. Kathy asks if she knows what Cindy has done to him, and offers to fill Mary in on all the details. She does so later, and Mary at first defends Cindy, saying that perhaps Ian got the "wrong end of the stick" when he thought she was trying to kill him. Kathy says hiring a hit-man is not really ambiguous. Mary is shocked and promises to be "extra nice" to Ian in future. Annie arranges a meeting with Johnny and Phil, although Phil doesn't actually have his half of the money to hand and he's not sure how to raise it. They decide to pretend that George is unexpectedly called away at that moment, because Annie isn't sure whether Johnny will deal with her alone. Annie haggles and gets the price down to £7,500, not much reduction on the original £8000. She is unconcerned about Phil's worries that he doesn't have the money, saying he'll think of something. Annie and Phil continue discussing their successful deal in the Vic and Tiffany asks Grant if there is anything going on between them. Grant tells her in no uncertain terms to stop thinking along those lines, and says it's a business deal. Tiffany is chastised, and says she was just happy for Phil if he had found someone else. The Square is vandalised with paint opposing the hostel. Alex tells his father that the locals are all against it, and Jeff surprises him by saying "It's because they are stupid proles, what do you expect?" Alex laughs at this dismissal of the very people he's always fighting on behalf of, and his father says "They're just ignorant - and it's people like your lot who keep them that way. Not letting them think for themselves, feeding them fairy stories and keeping them afraid of the big bad Wizard of Oz, so they're easier to control." Alex is distracted by Kathy's arrival while his Jeff is doing his own preaching. Kathy and Alex's conversation comes to nothing, and Kathy goes home to be accosted by Grant wittering on for hours about "her and Phil." She drums it into his thick skull that she wants a divorce and mentions Ian's meeting. Grant decides that helping Ian will ingratiate them with Kathy so offers to go with Phil as back-up for Ian, as they did in Italy. Alex goes to the café and says he needs to talk to Kathy and they both start talking embarrassedly. Alex says let me go first, and says he thinks that what happened was a mistake and they should just forget all about it. Kathy weakly says that she was going to say the same, but looks like forgetting all about it was the last thing on her mind. Bianca and Tiffany argue again about Tiffany's stupidity, and Simon asks them both what's going on but they refuse to tell him. However, Bianca is less than subtle and spends the next few days continually dropping the words "Grant", "wife-beating" and various other "violence" references into her conversation, so Simon eventually twigs. The public meeting goes ahead and the residents, led by the vocal minority of Peggy and Ian, voice their opinions about the scum of the earth descending on Walford. Alex is mainly shouted down and jeered. Ian gets into full flow, saying that crime affects them all, and how many people here have been victims - mugged, burgled, or raped? He asks for a show of hands, but Kathy for one isn't too keen on advertising her seedy past. Alex stands up and replies that he'd like to turn this round and asks "How many people here have never made a mistake? How many people here have ever committed a crime?" This is outrages everyone, especially the hardened hypocrites like Peggy. The meeting is over, and Alex escapes unhurt. Kathy follows him around a bit and offers her support, but Alex largely ignores her attempts to chat him up, and goes home in a sulk. Alex chats to Jeff who is also contemplating divorce. When Alex says that he has no opinion and it's up to him what he does, Jeff is amazed at the U-turn and asks why he has changed his mind. Alex mumbles on about why should he know anything about relationships, as his father always says, he hasn't got any experience so who is he to give advice? Jeff asks if Kathy is getting a divorce, because he saw her husband going into her house earlier. Alex queries this, and Jeff takes it back, saying maybe it was the other one - he can't tell them apart. Alex laughs but looks thoughtful. Meanwhile, Huw is being stood up in the Vic and he sits and moans to Tiffany, that he fails with women because they all want a caveman who slaps them around. Tiffany excuses herself looking upset. Grant is annoyed with Huw. Credits Main cast *Cindy Beale - Michelle Collins *Ian Beale - Adam Woodyatt *Mary Flaherty - Melanie Clark Pullen *Kathy Mitchell - Gillian Taylforth *Annie Palmer - Nadia Sawalha *Phil Mitchell - Steve McFadden *Tiffany Mitchell - Martine McCutcheon *Grant Mitchell - Ross Kemp *Alex Healy - Richard Driscoll *Jeff Healy - Leslie Schofield *Bianca Butcher - Patsy Palmer *Peggy Mitchell - Barbara Windsor *Huw Edwards - Richard Elis Guest cast * Nick Holland - Dominic Taylor * Ros Thorne - C.P. Grogan Category:Episode Category:1998 Episodes